Promise
by Mirax
Summary: About Lily, and Harry


A Promise

"My son, Harry." Lily smiled happily as she showed the small pink baby to her friend, Joanne, from school, whom she hadn't seen in years. Harry stirred, one small hand moving out of the protective blankets, and he yawned, a tiny sound that brought joy to Lily's heart. Everything Harry did made her smile, and his little face was one of the most beautiful sights in the world to her. She loved him, wholeheartedly, and couldn't bear to have him out of her sight. He and James were her whole life, it seemed to her. If anything ever happened to either of them... Lily shuddered at the very thought, and hugged Harry closer. She soon said goodbye to their visitor, and then looked at Harry, who was asleep again. He was only a week old, and his face was still red. He had a tiny bit of hair, which was black, and never seemed to want to lie flat. It looked like Harry's hair was going to be just like James's, which made Lily grin. That hair could drive her husband so nuts, but she thought it looked cute.  
Harry woke up again, and opened his eyes. They were closed most of the time, as most newborns' are, but when they were open, Harry looked so sweet. His eyes were baby blue, and Lily wondered what color they would be when he grew up. She often found herself wondering what he would do and be when he grew up; what he would look like, what he would like, who his friends would be. She thought of him going to Hogwarts, and smiled at the memories of all the good times she had had there. Her son would love it there too, she knew. _"My son."_ She thought to herself. "My _baby. I love him so much."_

Harry was a month old now, and beginning to smile and laugh. Some mothers found this odd, that he would be doing this at so young an age, but Lily thought it was perfectly natural. He was such a happy baby, and so sweet. He was small for his age, but nice and healthy, and he was so soft and plump, that Lily hated to put him down. She held him, and rocked him and sang to him whenever she could. She never got tired of looking at him, and kissing him. She played little games with him that made him laugh, and that sounded like music to her ears. She couldn't wait for all the things she knew that he would do soon, couldn't wait for the memories that would be made. Her favorite time of the day was when James came home, and the three of them would play on the floor, all laughing and happy. Lily never wanted that time to end. 

At three months of age, Harry was a beautiful baby. His eyes had turned green, just like Lily's, and his hair stuck up, just like his father's. Even when Lily was giving him a bath and his hair was wet, it still stuck up. Lily just smiled and shook her head. He was easygoing and happy, and he was always trying new things. He loved playing on the floor because he was so interested in everything that was going on around him. He noticed everything, and gibbered about it. He was still small, but not seriously so, and Lily thought he was perfect. One night as she was rocking him to sleep, she whispered into his tiny ear, 

"I love you Harry. I will love you forever and always. Forever and always, I'll be with you." As soon as she had finished speaking, she felt a small tremble in the air around her. Harry seemed to notice too, because he gave a small start, and then settled back down. Lily asked James, "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah" said James. "Do you have any idea what it was?" Lily told him what she had said to Harry, and his eyes widened. "That's very interesting," he said. " I've heard of that before. It's a special, very powerful spell that's commonly called Promise, with a capital P. It's activated when you make a promise with absolutely no reservations or doubts, and from purely un-selfish motives. This kind of promise is very rare, so the spell is too. It's completely binding, and can have very serious consequences, but they have always been good ones. The Promise can't be used for evil, only for good. This will mean that you will always love Harry, and always be with him." 

Lily thought about this. She now felt even more when she thought of Harry. She felt connected to him in a way she couldn't explain.

Harry was six months old now, and Lily loved him as much as ever. He was an easy baby, and the only problems she had were when she tried to leave him. She was all right if he was in the same building, but if they got any further apart that she felt a tugging in her heart that felt like it would tear her apart. She had made special arrangements that allowed him to be with her most of the time, including special harness on her broom for him, and a backpack that he could ride in on her back that magically took away most of his weight, so that she didn't hurt her back.

Harry smiled and clapped his little hands as "Da-Da" came in. Lily looked up from where she was picking up the toys Harry had tossed under the couch. She smiled as she saw James pick Harry up and give him a big hug, and then tickle his tummy. Harry laughed, and his parents laughed along. He was nine months old now, and sitting and crawling, and trying to stand. He laughed a lot, and was always happy if his parents were around. He seemed to be growing awfully fast to Lily, who couldn't bear to see him growing out of his baby clothes. James put Harry down, and he crawled of in pursuit of a magical baby toy that rolled itself along the floor. Lily sat on the couch, and James joined her. He said,

"I've got some bad news. You know that someone on our side has been leaking information to Voldemort. Well, now Dumbledore thinks that whoever it is has told Voldemort where we are, and he's coming after us."

Lily gasped, and lifting Harry onto her lap, she clutched him protectively. Her peace had been abruptly shattered.

Six months later, Lily and James had just moved into their new home in Godric's Hollow, and were preparing to do the Charm. Peter Pettigrew had been chosen for Secret Keeper, and he was at their house. The charm didn't take long, and soon the three Potters were the only ones in the house. Lily smiled. She felt much safer now. Harry, sitting on James's lap, smiled too. He was now fifteen months old. He had had his first birthday, and was quite big now, walking and beginning to talk. 

On October 31st, James and Lily were sitting in their small living room, relaxing after the day. Harry was in bed for the night, and everything was quiet. The stars and moon were out, and the sky was brilliant. Not a cloud was in sight, and Lily thought drowsily that this had been a wonderful, beautiful day. There came knock at the door, shattering her peace. James went to get it, and Lily wondered who would be visiting at this hour. Then she heard James yell, 

"Lily! It's him! Get Harry and run, I'll try to hold him off!" Lily was terrified, but she ran up the stairs into Harry's bedroom. As she reached his crib, the door swung open, and Voldemort stood there, a dark shadow against the light streaming in. Lily gasped, and backed up against Harry's crib, hoping to protect him. Voldemort hissed, 

"Move aside, you silly girl." Lily knew that he wanted to kill Harry, and she screamed, pleading

"Not Harry, please not Harry!" She knew James must be dead, and the thought sent a knife of pain into her stomach. She had to protect Harry. "Please not Harry, take me, kill me instead!"

"Move aside!" Voldemort hissed threateningly. He pointed his wand at her, and she knew that he would kill her, and then kill Harry. She jumped at him, desperate to protect her son, and he hissed a curse. A flash of green light came from his wand at her, and she knew she was dead. His evil cackle filled the room, coupled with Harry's screams. Somehow, Lily was seeing this, and she wasn't sure how. Voldemort moved over to the crib, and pointed his wand at Harry. Lily knew that he was going to die too, and she had to stop it. She moved over, and covered Harry with her body. She didn't know what was going on, because she was invisible, and she could see her body on the floor, but she was, what? A ghost? She didn't know. As Voldemort fired a curse at Harry, she blocked it somehow, and she saw something horrible happen. The curse exploded outward, destroying most of the house, and most of Voldemort! The horrible figure was left half destroyed, and it screamed, and disappeared. Harry was still screaming, and Lily tried to comfort him, but she didn't think he could hear her. What had allowed her to survive (if that was even the right word) the attack? Then she remembered. The Promise! 

Lily stayed right with Harry until someone came to get him. It was Hagrid the gamekeeper from Hogwarts. As the giant man lifted Harry gently, Lily floated away a few feet to see what was left of her home. There was almost nothing left, and she couldn't even see James's body. She was so distraught that she hardly noticed that she was being pulled along as Hagrid and Harry rode away on a flying motorcycle. She was a few feet behind them, and she found that she could go no further than that from Harry. 

Soon they arrived at her sister Petunia's house, and after a short conversation, Harry was alone on the step of Petunia's house. Lily was with him, of course, but even she couldn't see herself. She stayed with Harry, singing to him, and thinking that maybe he could hear her, because as long as she sang, he was happy. 

She was always with him. When Petunia was feeding Dudley cake in his expensive highchair, and Harry was sitting on the floor with dried bread crusts to eat, she was with him, whispering to him that she loved him always. When he was locked in the cupboard under the stairs, she was there, trying to make him hear her, hoping that she would someday be able to talk to him, and have him hear. She knew that someday he would hear her story, and she believed with all her heart that someday he would hear her.

_"I'll love you forever and always. Forever and always, I'll be with you."_

I had this idea late at night, so if it doesn't make sense, it's not my fault! I love babies, and I think that this is an aspect of Lily's life that hasn't been very explored. Her love for Harry must have been enormous, as any mother's is for her baby. I mean after all, she died for him. That's some awesome love!-Mirax. 


End file.
